


Children Talk

by LouieRambles



Series: The Things Children Say and Do [1]
Category: Noblesse (Manhwa)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, childhood fears
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2019-09-17 12:28:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16974618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouieRambles/pseuds/LouieRambles
Summary: M-21 hesitated to draw the scientist's attention to himself. Scientists were bad people, and that was a fact. M-24 had made sure that he knew that.So he waited.And waited.And waited some more.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another one for the Noblesse Fixit event on tumblr, Hosted by MadamAzure!
> 
> Prompt: Child AU

M-21 hesitated to draw the scientist's attention to himself. Scientists were bad people, and that was a fact. M-24 had made sure that he knew that.

But...24 had told him to go with the blonde scientist and the stranger with the black hair, who'd made Jake disappear. He'd told him that and then promised to come back for him. 

That had happened two weeks ago, and two weeks were a long time. Was 24 still stuck behind all those stones?

If so, that wasn't good. 24 needed his medication, and what he had could only last so long. So he had to 'suck it up' as M-64 would say, and talk to the scientist. 

M-21 took a deep breath and walked into the lab. He walked up to the scientist and stood beside him. He watched as The man wrote something in his notebook, muttering to himself.

M-21 waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

When the scientist still didn't acknowledge him, he made the first move and took hold of the man's coat, pulling it.

The scientist straightened, looking up and around before he looked down. It took a while for him to actually notice M-21, but when he did, he gave him a small smile.

"Ah, M-21, how-"

"I wanna see 24," M-21 interrupted, letting his voice shake a little. That always made the Union scientists treat him a little bit better. It wouldn't change their behaviour too much, but they'd be less angry with him for whatever he'd done. Or whatever he hadn't done, because the Union scientists sometimes got mad for that.

Scientists were weird like that, he figured. 

This scientist looked at him sharply, eyes narrowing. M-21 took a step back, fear growing in his belly. He tried to figure out what was wrong with what he did.

Sure, he wasn't supposed to interrupt the scientists when they were working, but they'd never really gotten mad at him for that before. So what-

-oh no. He'd made a mistake. Scientists didn't like it when expe-ri-ments got too close to each other. In fact, that was one of the few things that they would punish him for, without fail. And there he was, throwing how close he was with 24 in another scientist's face.

He was in big trouble now, unless he could distract the scientist. 

Swallowing past the big lump inn his throat, M-21tried again.

"I wanna see M-24," he whined, not needing to force his voice to shake. "Please?"

The scientist didn't say anything. He only stared at M-21 with a weird look in his face and he couldn't take it anymore.

Terrified, M-21 stammered an apology and ran away.

He fled the lab, running to the elevator as quickly as he could. His eyes burned with tears, and the air going into his lungs felt wet and icky. 

Upstairs, he ran out into the living room, past the black-haired man. He ran right up to the bedroom that the scientist had given to him and did the first thing that came to his mind: he hid under his bed and trembled. 

M-13 had told him once that the monsters under his bed didn't like company. So if someone hid under there, the monsters would go into the closet to hide.

There weren't any closets in the Union, so the monsters didn't have anywhere to hide. But here, he had a closet that was tall enough to hold M-75, and deep enough to hold M -24. He was pretty sure that it could hold two of M-24, standing side by side, and one of him.

So it should have been more than capable of holding a big monster. One that could attack the scientist when he came to look for M-21.

All he had to do was wait.

...but what if the scientist checked under the bed first?

M-21 didn' t hesitate and pulled himself out from under his bed. He grabbed a blanket, and took it with him as he returned to his hiding place. 

He used the blanket to build a wall around himself. Then he left to get a pillow. And another blanket, in case someone looked from the front of the bed. He went out one more time for another two pillows.

Those were for him, because the floor was cold and hard and he didn't know how long he'd have to wait.

 

\- - - - - - - - - - - -

Raizel sighed worriedly once he felt the boy's panicked energy signature fading with sleep. He didn't know what had caused the spike in the first place, but whatever it was, it had sent the child running out of the lab. 

That kind of terror did not come from nothing, in Raizel's opinion. So he'd reached out to Frankenstein, only to be met with confusion from his bonded. He pushed gently, and the scene in the lab unfolded before him. 

In all appearances, M-21 had been spooked by nothing.

With narrowed eyes, he turned towards the child's room. 

The boy was indeed asleep, trembling with the beginnings of a nightmare. Raizel frowned. He probed deeper, and found the child's memory of what had happened.

Frankenstein's inaction in the face of M-21's request had been the initial cause of the boy's discomfort, it seemed. But it was his servant's confused expression that had sent him fleeing towards the sanctuary of his room.

Raizel didn't quite understand why his new charge was frightened by Frankenstein. But he hesitated to push even more than he already had. Skimming another's thoughts and memories was one thing, but delving into their past and their psyche was another.

Raizel...Raizel couldn't do that. He didn't _want_ to. 

However, all it took was one look at the pure terror that a seemingly innocuous interaction had left the child feeling. One look, and his previous resolve crumbled, and a new one rose in its place.

Pausing only to ensure that his actions would not cause M-21 any more distress, the Noblesse began.

He brushed aside the lighter, happier memories at the surface. He waded through the sadness and stormed through the anger with a determination that he'd almost forgotten he had.

Raizel fought on until at last, he stood before a colossal figure in the boy's mind.

The figure was so entrenched in M-21's fear, that he _knew_ it had to be the source. He approached the figure.

Raizel saw the way that the man behind the figure mistreated M-21 and his ilk. It was appalling, they way they were dehumanized, abused for forming attachments to each other.

What disgusted him the most though, was how the human seemed to take a perverse sort of glee from hurting M-21. 

_Crombel._

Such deplorable behaviour would have to be punished, Raizel noted. He withdrew from the boy's mind. But not before taking some time to quell his rising nightmare.

Away from M-21's mind, he stood and ventured down into the lab. Within its confines, Frankenstein paced, his mind in turmoil as he pondered the previous events. 

"He asked for the older one, Master," the man sighed. "I didn't expect - No, I didn't want to think that he would have remained unfamiliar with the notion of death. I-I'd hoped that he could understand what it meant for someone close to him to pass away."

Raizel nodded, having seen as much when he'd entered the boys mind. His friends, all of them adults, sought to protect the boy from the truth by hiding it. They allowed him to believe that the deceased were being sent out on missions, and that they could not return to the labs, as it would have been seen as an admission of affection.

It created a fragile understanding. One that the colossal modified human called Jake had tried to destroy.

"I froze, when M-21 asked about him."

"Which his mind translated as anger," Raizel said. Seeing his servant's confusion and dawning frustration, he clarified, "The Union scientists forcefully led him to believe that showing affection for his comrades would always result in punishment."

Rage, red and hot, tumbled through the bond. For once, Raizel saw no need to chide his servant for it.

"Those bastards dared to abuse a _child_?!" Frankenstein roared. Dark Spear's energy began to seep out, cloying the room with its weight. "I'll send them straight to hell!"

Thinking of the little boy upstairs, Raizel found himself agreeing.


	2. Children Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frankenstein was at a loss. And the source of this confusion was a tiny child assassin, no taller than three feet. Three and a half feet, if he was feeling particularly generous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I took longer than I expected with this. Real life hit me, and then the latest chapter hit me...

Frankenstein was at a loss. And the source of this confusion was a tiny child assassin, no taller than three feet. Three and a half feet, if he was feeling particularly generous. 

He couldn’t take M-21 to work with him, but he certainly couldn’t leave the modified human at home alone either.

Despite his impressive self-sufficiency, M-21 was only around five years old. And even then, he was still small for that age group.

Enrolling the former child assassin in a preschool was also a bad idea. Because who knew what would set him off, if something as mundane as a simple stare sent him into hysterics? And he hadn’t even considered what he would tell others about the sudden appearance of a young child!

Taking the child in had been a bad idea. But, in the face of what had been done to him and what could happen to him if he was found, alive and hiding information, or in the care of an unmodified human who wasn’t Union-approved, taking M-21 in had been the best course of action for them all.

His master had also wanted the child to stay with them…Frankenstein sighed and brought his hands up to his face. Pages of the notes that he had been writing peeled away from his bare arms with his change in position. He tried to ignore them, but the thought of the mess alone was enough to make him cringe. With another sigh, he pushed his chair back, and bent to pick up the wayward pages.  


They were the first few pages of a plan for the construction of a new plane. The first step was, predictably, to conduct research on the best materials for the job. The next was to source materials in order of priority.

He already knew what he needed to arrange, if he ever wanted M-21 to be able to live on his own. Now, all Frankenstein needed to do was get them together. He could do that. In fact, he was more than capable of it.

Taking a deep breath, Frankenstein got out of his chair and stooped to pick up the papers.

Master’s friends were being discharged from the hospital tomorrow, and he’d promised them the story of M-21’s backstory. It had to be something simple, enough so that a child would be able to remember it. It would also have to be something that would explain his status as the child’s guardian.

It also couldn’t be so radical that it would raise questions. Perhaps something of a sensitive nature, so that others wouldn’t be willing to pry?

Frankenstein placed his papers on his desk and stood. He needed to consult his master.

He eased open his bedroom door, mindful of the modified child sleeping a few doors down. Although, judging from the sounds coming from the boy’s room, he would have been doing him a favour had he woken him.

But he urgently needed to confer with Raizel. He’d be back before the nightmare got too bad.

Cadis Etrama Di Raizel was sitting in the front room, reading a book with the lights off. Frankenstein approached and stood beside him, waiting patiently.

His master turned a few more pages, and then set the book aside. Picking up a hand-painted teacup made of bone china, the Noblesse took a sip of his tea.

When he set his cup back on its saucer, Raizel turned to face Frankenstein. “Frankenstein, I trust you,” he assured. Then he returned to his book.

Raizel had only spoken four words, but they meant so much.

I trust your judgment. I trust that your actions will be appropriate. I trust you to take care of everything.

It was heartening, in light of the doubts that had assailed him previously.

He began to bow and thank Raizel for his words of encouragement. A sharp inhale from the Noblesse stopped him though.“M-21 is awake,” he supplied. “He is also in distress.”

Oh? He had already escaped his nightmare? Frankenstein bowed. “I will take care of him Master.”

He exited the front room and began the trek back up to M-21’s room. Frankenstein met the small modified human halfway between his room at the end of the hall and the staircase. The boy was nearly hidden underneath his bed sheets and blankets. His pillows were piled atop the mass, and as he struggled to get a proper grip on the bulk of bed linen, one of his pillows slipped, causing the child to let out a soft curse under his breath.

If it was his attempt at finding a way to sneak around, it was hilariously ineffective.

Stifling his mirth, Frankenstein stepped in and rescued the falling pillow. To his dismay, it was wet and stunk of urea.M-21 was a bed-wetter, it seemed.

The culprit gasped, making him turn his attention back to the child. The poor thing seemed torn between dropping the sheets and running, or staying and bawling for forgiveness.

Rather than let him do either, Frankenstein relieved M-21 of his load and started heading back down the stairs. While he began his careful descent, he called over his shoulder, “Let’s get these cleaned up, shall we?” A smile played on his lips when he heard the relieved sigh, and the tiny footsteps heading towards him, rather than away.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

M-21 swung his feet as he looked down at the scientist’s hands.

He’d been worried when the scientist had found him with the dirty sheets, but the man hadn’t gotten angry like the Union scientists would have. Instead, he took the wet pillows and blankets and offered to show M-21 how to wash them.

That was how he’d gotten here, sitting on the dryer, watching as the man transferred the sheets from the washer.

He followed the scientist with his eyes as the man went over to a cupboard and remove a pink ball. He took it over to a tub ran it under some water, then tossed it into the dryer. He lowered himself into a crouch, and began playing with the dryer.

He wasn’t talking anymore, but M-21 didn’t know what he was doing and he wanted to know. Usually, when a scientist stopped talking to him, it meant that he was supposed to shut up, or he’d get punished. But this scientist wasn’t like the ones in the Union so…

“What’s that?”

The scientist stiffened, but looked up him with a thin smile. He raised his hand and M-21 flinched. He squeezed his eyes shut and curled in on himself.

This was a bad idea. He should have just kept his mouth shut, he knew the rules, he knew that the scientists didn’t really want him talking to them, so why-The scientist chuckled. It was a nice sound, low and rumbling, just like M-24’s laugh. Not dry and dark, like Mr. Crombel’s.

“This one is to makes the laundry soft.” M-21 opened one of his eyes and looked down at the scientist. He was holding up a thin paper that smelled like apples. But that was it. He wasn’t waving the paper or reaching for M-21 or anything. He was just holding it up.

Slowly, he began to relax. If the scientist wasn’t going to hurt him, then he could afford to.

…unless the scientist was just waiting for him to relax before he hurt him? M-21 opened his other eye, but curled in on himself even more. If the scientist was going to hurt him, he wanted to see it coming. He was going to ‘take it like a man’, just like M-64 used to say.

The scientist had lowered his arm was digging through the things in the dryer. He made a funny little sound as he found, and pulled out the pink ball.

“This,” he said, “is to take out the wrinkles in the fabric. If I don’t use it, the sheets will come out with all sorts of lines and folds, and I’ll have to press them.” He placed the ball back into the dryer and tapped M-21’s legs gently.

That was it?

M-21 frowned, even as he shifted his legs to allow the scientist to close the dryer door. He wasn’t being punished for wetting his bed, and he wasn’t being punished for talking out of turn? What was wrong with this scientist?

He accepted the man’s help to get down, but flinched when he didn’t let go. This was it. He was going to be punished. Looking up, M-21 tried to be brave and accept what was coming to him.

“I think you’ll need a bath, before I get you back into bed."

The scientist was frowning thoughtfully. 

M-21 blinked. "I had a bath already!” he protested. “I took one yesterday, before we went to the hospital!”

All at once, the scientist’s face seemed to get dark.

But it wasn’t a bad type of dark, like Crombel’s or the other Union scientists’. Instead, it was the type of dark that he’d see on M-24’s face whenever they argued about M-21 going to bed.

“And you’ll get another one right now!”

M-21 felt the blood draining from his face. He wasn’t going to win this fight. He might have won it, had it been 24, but this wasn’t, and he could just tell ha he was going to lose.

But this wasn’t a fight that he could afford to lose. So, he delivered a swift kick to the scientist’s shins and then ran away.

“I’m not taking a bath!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really suck at writing children's perspectives! ^_^


	3. Children Get Scared, and Defensive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the third week, there were two other people at home when M-21 and the scientist got back. He didn't think too much of it, and went to give his report. But then the short one turned around, and it was all that M-21 could do to keep from running away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's got two thumbs and really enjoyed rereading earlier chapters in order to get a sense of the dialogue? That's right, me.
> 
> So enjoy your behemoth of a chapter (by my standards), y'all probably ain't getting another one this long anytime soon.

When Frank-en-stein had said that he'd give M-21 a mission, he hadn't expected that it would be an in-fil-tra-tion type of mission! Those were super high-rated missions that the Union only gave to the best of the best, and he was a failed ex-per-i-ment!

He couldn't let Frank-en-stein down now, not when the scientist had put so much trust in him.

So every day for two weeks he went to the preschool and stayed close to Aru-nuna. Then he went home with Frank-en-stein, reporting to him on the way back.

Usually, Raizel (who he was sure was a vampire) and his friends would be there when he and the scientist got back, and he'd be expected to give Raizel a short report about what he'd done in school. Then he was free to do whatever he wanted, until Raizel's friends left. After that, he would help Frankenstein clean up the mess that the others had left.

Once, he'd gotten an a-ssign-ment from the school, and he had to complete it and return it Nuna. She'd given him a sticker, as thanks for his colourful paper.

On the third week, there were two other people at home when M-21 and the scientist got back. He didn't think too much of it, and went to give his report. But then the short one turned around, and it was all that M-21 could do to keep from running away.

The boy was another vampire, and he was _strong_. And the girl was even _stronger_. He could tell that, just by _looking_ at them.

And, from his experience, strong people were usually _mean_.

Well, strong people other than Frankenstein and Raizel. They seemed to be nice people. And if they were nice people, maybe they would protect him from these two new strong people?

So, rather than running away, M-21 ran over to the kitchen, where Frankenstein had gone after they got back. Once he was there, away from the stares of those two new vampires, he sat down on the floor and brought his knees up to his chest.

His legs felt weak, and he couldn't stop his hands from shaking. His heart was beating fast, too fast, he couldn't breathe, and the room was too hot, but he was so _cold_. M-21 put his hands up to his eyes and tried to _breathe_. But all he could think of were the older successful exper'ments, of how sometimes they'd get together to beat him and the others. Of how _mean_ Jake was, and how Mary would look at him. Of how that creepy man that M-24 had made had beaten him at first, before Raizel helped him.

Something touched his shoulder, and M-21 flinched. When nothing happened after a while though, he lowered his hands and peered up at Frankenstein.

The scientist was looking at him worriedly, like how M-24 used to look at him after another exper'ment. He moved slowly, bringing up his other hand to put it on top of M-21's head. He rubbed his head gently, humming softly while he did so.

It felt... _nice_. No one had ever done this for him before.

M-21 grabbed the hand that Frankenstein had on his shoulder. The scientist looked down at his small hand and smiled. Then, he sat next to M-21 on the floor.

He sighed. "I forgot to warn you that someone else would be here, I'm sorry." The hand that was on M-21's head moved to curl around his shoulders, and M-21 took advantage of it immediately.

He curled into the scientist's side, still holding onto the man's hand so that it was crossed over his chest. It was warm, and all he could think about was that Frankenstein was letting him do this. Frankenstein was letting him hold onto him and was sitting on the floor with him, and Frankenstein was _strong_. Frankenstein was strong, and he wasn't mean.

M-21 took a deep breath and let it out, shuddering. He looked up at Frankenstein, who smiled.

"Are you curious about them, M-21?" he asked.

M-21 blinked. "What's cu-ri-us mean?" he questioned. The scientist had told him that if there was something he'd wanted to know, all he had to do was ask. M-21 hadn't quite believed him, because scientists didn't like people questioning them. But this was Frankenstein and Frankenstein was weird, so he was going to test it out right now.

Frankenstein chuckled. "To be _curious_ means that you want to know _more_ about something. So, M-21, _are_ you curious about those two new children?"

M-21 blinked. Was he curious about them? He ducked his head and sucked on his tongue as he thought about it. Yes, he was cu-ri- _ous_ about them. But, was he willing to test how much Frankenstein was willing to in-dulge him just then? He sucked on his tongue some more, and then shook his head.

He wasn't willing to see just how far Frankenstein would go, not just yet.

The man sighed, and held M-21 just a little bit closer.

"Would you like me to take you to your room then, so you don't have to be around them?"

 _That_ , M-21 knew the answer to, without having to think about it. He wrapped his arms around the scientist's neck and nodded, trembling slightly as he thought about those two vampires again.

Frankenstein sighed again, but picked up M-21 anyway. "Come on then," he said, sounding a bit tired. He positioned him so that his legs were wrapped around his waist, and then placed one hand under his bum and the other on his back in order to support him. "Let's get you into your room then."

The scientist walked out into the living, room, and all of the talking seemed to stop. M-21 hugged Frankenstein's neck a little tighter, feeling nervous.

"Chairman," Shinwoo called, "is Milan alright?"

M-21 froze, and felt his breathing hitch. What would the scientist tell them? Would he tell them that M-21 was so weak, that he was terrified of two strangers? Would Shinwoo and the others laugh at him? Would they-

"Milan was feeling a bit under the weather when I picked him up from school today, so I'm just taking him to bed a bit earlier than usual," Frankenstein replied. "Don't worry about him too much, okay?"

M-21 released the breath that he hadn't realised he'd held as Frankenstein began to walk away, relieved. His secret was safe then, no one would know how weak he'd been.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What are you doing here?" Regis asked the small modified human, once his human classmate was gone. He hadn't wanted to believe it, when he'd seen it. But, there the child was, modified. A human _child_ , greedy enough to throw away his humanity, just for the sake of power.

The child looked up at him, mouth set in a frown. "Shinwoo was taking me home, because the chairman asked him to!" the child hissed. "But then he asked you to take me home for him." He looked back down at the ground and kicked a stray pebble on the path.

Regis felt himself getting angry. "That's not what I asked."

Again, the child glared up at him. "You're weird," he announced, and began to walk away, leaving Regis and Seira behind.

...oh, that little...

"What are you doing mingling with humans?"

The child stopped, and Regis knew that he had him.

"You thought I didn't know?" he pressed, "I know that you have power from the experiments humans conducted. I just didn't say it." Walking towards the child, he waited until he passed before adding his final words. "I don't know what your plan is, but be careful. That greed you possess at such a young age? It will be your downfall."

The child, the _modified human_ , began following he and Seira at a distance, after that. The minute they got home however, he crassly shoved past them and dashed towards the homeowner and gave him a crumpled paper from inside his knapsack. The homeowner looked pleased, and took it into a room off to a side.

Regis continued into the house, but stopped when he felt Seira pause beside him. He looked up at her, and followed her gaze. She was peering into the room that the homeowner had entered. Inside, the man was taping the paper into a frame, with a small smile on his face.

Seira put her hand on his shoulder, and Regis nodded, resuming his journey to his destination. It was inelegant to pry in the affairs of other, after all.

The next time they were alone with the modified human was orchestrated by Seira.

She volunteered to pick up the human from his school, under the guise of wanting to get to know him better. Naturally, Regis volunteered to accompany her, to keep them safe on the way back.

He felt a bit guilty about coercing the human with mind control, but it was necessary. The man wasn't willing to let them go for the child, citing that the boy was terrified of strangers, due to an incident in his past.

Rubbish. He was just using them to shield him from the humans around him. But they'd get what they wanted out of him, regardless.

They were walking the modified human through the park when their opportunity came. They stood, and the human stood with them.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking around.

Rather than beating around the bush, Regis cut straight to the chase. Showing a child too much hostility left a sour taste in his mouth, even if it as a modified human. He took a deep breath and asked, "You know about the incident that happened at the hospital a while ago?"

"Hospital?" The child looked confused.

"What?" Regis was confused as well, until he realised just what their current scenario might have looked like to the child, considering what he had asked him a few nights ago. He scoffed. "Did you think that I would ask something about you? Sorry if I disappointed you, but I'm not interested in why you're hiding among humans."

This time, the child made a face. "Yeah, well, I'm not interested in you either, so there!" He stuck out his tongue at them in a display of inelegance. "Besides, they said it was a crazy person who did it."

Beside him, Seira made a disbelieving sound, and Regis felt inclined to echo it. Instead, he contested what he modified human was telling him. "Don't tell me hat you actually believe that ridiculous story."

The child made a face again. "What are you talking about?"

Regis narrowed his eyes. He refused to believe that the modified human was unaware of the truth behind the incident. "I want info about that case, and not just a made-up story."

The child narrowed his eyes as well. "I don't have to tell you anything, you big wierdo!"

The little degenerate was testing him. That had to be it. He thought that he knew something, and now he was testing them to see just how much of it was true. But how to find out just what preconceived notions the child was forcing on he and Seira, while still completing his objecive...?

"From your attitude," Regis said with a smirk, stepping back and pocketing his hands, "I think you know something about us. But you have it all wrong."

"You guys call yourself the Noblesse," the child interrupted, looking for all the world like a satisfied cat. "You thought I didn't know?"

Regis stiffened in surprise. Beside him, Seira gave a slight gasp.

"How did you know?" he snapped. "We don't normally move in person. Moreover, you knew, and you acted like that?"

The modified human grinned. "Why should I be scared of you? You're just a big, mean old bully!"

That rubbed Regis the wrong way. However, he wasn't angry with the child. He was disappointed in himself. Modified human or no, he shouldn't have let himself be so hostile towards the child. This time, he took a mental step back and released a breath.

"You're right," he conceded, once he was calm again. "You don't need to be afraid of us. It was just unexpected." Regis really hoped that he seemed calm. Otherwise, this would be harder than it needed to be. The child had already proved that. "Back to the point. Won't you tell us?"

"Why do I gotta tell you?" the modi- the child asked.

The words were said unkindly, but the tension in the child's body was leaving. His face looked pensive, and it was obvious that he was thinking. Regis was getting somewhere, after all.

"I understand your position," he assured, deciding to continue with the gentler approach. "I understand that you would be cautious when it came to telling me, even if you knew. I don't want to hear about an insane person. I want to hear the truth about what happened at the hospital, and about the ones involved.

The child's thoughtful expression didn't change, but it appeared to become even more closed off. He was losing his window.

"We want to find the ones responsible for the incident and eliminate them," Seira added, surprising even Regis. She was usually content to let him do the talking, supporting him silently.

It was a jarring change of pace, but not unwelcome.

"They're all dead, you know," the child blurted, flinching even as surprise took over his features.

"The mutants are dead?" Regis asked, looking at the child fully now.

"Mu...tants?" the child asked, brow furrowing. "But, there weren't any mutants."

"You know the mutant?" Regis asked, eyes narrowing once more. He was throwing caution to the wind, now. The modified human knew something, and he was hiding it from them. "Listening to you talk, I'm sure that you know exactly what mutant we are talking about." He watched as they boy flinched, eyes widening as he realised that he was caught in his lies. "You know a lot about the mutant, and you know a lot about us. I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice..."

Regis really hadn't wanted to use his mind control on a child. It was part of the reason that he was being so patient with the modified human. But the human had betrayed his kindness, so...

"Here you all are."

Regis looked up, surprised by the arrival of the homeowner. He hadn't heard the man approaching. Once glance at Seira told him that she hadn't either. The same went for the modified human. Were they so vested in their conversation that it had slipped their awareness?

"I came outside because you were all late," the man was saying with a smile. "But I didn't know that you were so close. Come along now, we need to make dinner, so let's go home."

The modified human ran over to the homeowner and clung to the human's pant leg as he began to walk away. He began chattering, telling the man about some inconsequential information. When neither the homeowner or the elegant student were looking though, he turned his head and cast a vicious glare back at Regis and Seira. Then he turned his head forward once more.

Regis returned the glare, even as he began to follow. Before the homeowner had arrived, he'd used his mind control on the child.

And the child had thrown it off.

 _Now_ he was interested in the boy...

"Does anyone want any dish in particular?" the homeowner was saying, when Regis and Seira caught up to him. "I'll show you all how good of a cook I am." He clapped his hands twice, as if he were excited about the prospect. However, he seemed to freeze when Cadis Etrama di Raizel's long legs overtook him.

"Ramyeon."

This was said with such finality that even Regis and Seira were caught off guard.

One thought echoed through Regis's mind before he could stop it. _Again_?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, guess who's got two thumbs and got so fed up of typing out the conversations, that she just said to hell with it?
> 
> That's right, this girl. And I wanna say that I'm never doing it again but that's a downright lie. -_-


	4. Children Get into Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frankenstein sighed in relief as when he got to rest his hands from filling out so much paperwork. He picked up his phone, expecting to have a nice, relaxing conversation with an annoying telemarketer who wouldn’t let him get a decent word in to tell them that he wasn’t interested. Instead, what he got was a very frantic phone call from a very worried teacher.
> 
> “Chairman Lee, Milan is missing!”
> 
> Frankenstein sucked in a deep breath. Well, so much for relaxing. He took another deep, steadying breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's a day late, but not a dollar short. Ladies and gents, Louie presents to you another chapter of Children Talk! Enjoy!

Frankenstein sighed in relief as when he got to rest his hands from filling out so much paperwork. Even if it was only to answer the phone, he’d take it. A break was a break, and that was that.

He picked up the phone, expecting to have a nice, relaxing conversation with an annoying telemarketer who wouldn’t let him get a decent word in to tell them that he wasn’t interested. Instead, what he got was a very frantic phone call from a very worried teacher.

“Chairman Lee, Milan is missing!”

Frankenstein sucked in a deep breath. Well, so much for relaxing. He took another deep, steadying breath.

“Milan is…missing you say?” he asked, just to make sure that that was what his teacher had said. He could hear other persons on the other side of the line, panicking as well. Perhaps it would also be appropriate for him to panic in this moment as well?

“Yes!” the woman screamed. “Jeho, one of Milan’s classmates said that they saw him going out he gate with a stranger about forty-five minutes ago, but he didn’t say anything until just a while ago, and he’s not in the immediate area!”

…yes, this was indeed an appropriate time to panic.

Frankenstein put his phone on speaker as he stood up abruptly. His chair clattered as it fell, and several of his papers were pushed aside in his haste to clear his desk.M-21 was smart, and knew better than to go with a random stranger. And a random stranger _wouldn’t_ be able to force the child to go anywhere. Which meant that it wasn’t a random stranger.

Had the Union found M-21 already? How could they, when he had been so careful in constructing the child’s fictitious life?

Frankenstein took a moment to take a deep breath. As calmly as he could, under the circumstances, he ground out, “And this happened about forty-five minutes ago, you say?”

“Y-yes…”

Frankenstein exhaled and tried to think. If another modified human had taken- M-21, then there was little chance that they would still be in the city. However, there was the slightest possibility that they might still be close enough for him to catch up. Which wasn’t something that he could do if he was just sitting around.

“I’ll be right there,” Frankenstein shouted into the phone. Then he hung it up and tossed it on his desk. If anyone called, he could claim that he forgot it in his haste to get to the preschool. And, if the preschool asked why it took him so long to get there, he’d claim that the panic caused him to make a run for the school, rather than driving.

He was going to get M-21 back, and possibly break the bones of whichever Union agent took him.

As he hurried down the corridors of Ye Ran, a brief glimpse of something out of place caught his attention. Two of his students were standing in the courtyard, partially hidden by the building. And, based on their white hair, it was the two noble children.

Frankenstein didn’t have time to stop and dance around them, while pretending to be mind-controlled. So they would just get a hale and hearty order to get back to class. Whatever they did after that was up to them. He stormed out of the building, ready to approach the two Nobles and tear into them. A young voice however, stopped him in his tracks.

“There wasn’t a mutant,” the voice said, and Frankenstein breathed a sigh of relief. M-21 was at the school. What he was doing there however, was still a mystery. A mystery that could be solved right then and there, if he just stayed put, and kept his peace.

With his new plan of action decided, Frankenstein leaned against the building and masked his presence, hoping that he hadn’t been noticed.

“What?” Regis asked, confusion barely masked.

Frankenstein too, was confused. But, that was to be expected. He’d just begun listening in on their conversation, which could have been going on for a while now.

“You said it was a mutant,” M-21 mumbled, answering Regis’ question. “It wasn’t. We call it an in-fec-tee.”

Was M-21 telling the Nobles about the incident at the hospital? Frankenstein _had_ tell the boy that he could told Regis and Seira what he knew, but he hadn’t meant for the child to _abandon_ his teachers at school to do it! It was just unacceptable! 

He _would_ be having words with M-21 after this.

“If a plain old human gets in-fect-ed by an ex-peri-ment-al subject, then its an infectee. When a plain old human gets in-fect-ed by an ex-peri-men-tal subject, then its and infectee,” M-21 explained.

“And you’re saying that an infectee did that at the hospital?” Regis asked. Then he scoffed. “It’s clear that that was the work of a mutant.”

“Says you!” M-21 retorted, raising his voice a little. He seemed to remember that he wasn’t supposed to be there though, and his next words were spoken more softly. “In-fec-tees don’t think right, and all they want is to drink blood. And, if they don’t get it fast enough, they’re gonna die.”

Frankenstein was impressed. He hadn’t known how much the child understood the procedures of the infected humans that the Union’s agents could produce, and he hadn’t known how to broach the subject. But now, he was finding out just how much the boy understood. It was…amazing, for lack of a better word.

Regis, on the other hand, was disappointing him with his refusal to be open. And to think, he was supposed to be investigating something. In Frankenstein’s day, you looked at every angle when searching for answers. They didn’t just follow one way of thinking like that!

And what was Gejutel thinking, sending such a closed-minded child out into the world like that? That was a recipe for disaster! The old coot should have-

“Let’s say that I believe you,” Regis hummed, cutting off Frankenstein, mid-thought. “Then where is this infectee now?”

Oh good, he wasn’t completely lost then.

“He’s dead,” M-21 responded, matter-of-factly. 

“And the one who created it?”

Frankenstein sucked in a breath at that. He _still_ hadn’t gotten around to explaining the concept of death to M-21…

“He’s on another mission,” the child said. “He’s far, far away right now. So far, that you can’t even see him!”

Regis sighed. His next words sounded weary, like he’d been fighting an uphill battle for years. “So you can’t prove anything,” he grumbled. “But why are you telling us this?”

“Well…” M-21 began, and Frankenstein could just _hear_ that smirk in his voice. “The Chairman says that old people need their sleep, and you’re plenty old. Too old to be going out every night like that.”

When Regis growled, Frankenstein took it as his cue to step in.

Going back to the administration building’s front door, he slammed it and raced around the corner of the building. In his haste, he almost bowled over the two nobles. As it were, they all stumbled, and Frankenstein used Regis’ shoulder as a crutch while he struggled to regain his balance. He panted realistically, and planted a frenetic expression across his features.

Fixing M-21 with a wide-eyed look of relief, he rushed forward and swept the child up in his arms. M-21 of course, flinched, but Frankenstein couldn’t address it. He had to make sure that Regis and Seira didn’t suspect anything. He spun the boy in a circle and held him close.

“Milan! hank heavens you’re here!” he exclaimed. Falling to his knees, he set the modified human back on his own feet and took hold of the child’s hands. “What were you _thinking_ , leaving your school like that? Your teacher thought that you’d been kidnapped! _I_ thought that you’d been kidnapped!”

M-21 looked at him with wide eyes, and then glanced back at Regis and Seira. He stared at them with calculating eyes. Then, without warning, his features fell, and his lower lip jutted out.

“I-I thought that I saw one of the bad men,” the child sniffled, alarmingly convincing. He looked at Frankenstein with large, wet, and pleading eyes. “And I got scared, and you said that I could come and find you if I did!” He threw his arms around his neck and sobbed. “Please don’t make me go back! Please!”

Frankenstein held onto the boy and picked him up, patting his back soothingly. “I won’t send you back, but next time, you tell your teachers that you want to come to me and wait for them to call me, okay?”

M-21 nodded from where he’d buried his head in Frankenstein’s clothes.

Sighing, Frankenstein turned around and glanced at Regis and Seira. They were standing there awkwardly, as if they didn’t know how to handle this new development. He sighed again.

“Thank you for finding Milan,” he said to them, beginning to walk back to the administration building. “But you _aren’t_ supposed to be out of your classes yet, so I’m going to ask you to return to them please.” Regis opened his mouth to say something, and Frankenstein held up a hand. “No buts, children. To your classes, _now._ ” To M-21, he started uttering soothing noises as the boy fake sobbed.

Once they were inside and out of sight however, he ceased making the noise. M-21 also quit his sobs and clung to Frankenstein’s shirt silently, in what seemed to be his natural pose after any encounter with the two young Nobles.

Together, they walked back to the office. Once inside, Frankenstein set the child down on the sofa and went back to close the door. When he turned back around, M-21 was already up again, picking up scattered papers off the floor. He joined the child, and they worked quickly and silently, collecting the forms from where they lay.

Cleaning finished, Frankenstein turned to the child. “Now young man, let’s talk about what you did… "M-21 gulped.

 

 

* * *

 

  
  
M-21 strolled through the park, alone. He swung his lunch box in around as he looked up at the stars. It was getting pretty late, but he wasn’t in any hurry. He’d copied the swirly writing that Regis had put in the sign-out book the last time he’d come to pick him up, and then left the school. That way, when Frankenstein came to pick him up, it would say the the big weirdo had picked him up from school a while ago. But he wouldn’t be there when Frankenstein got back. Regis wouldn’t be there either, and would _prob-ab-ly_ get back around the same time as him, and the scientist would chew him out for being late.

Would serve the big bully right.

"We finally meet,” a strange voice said, and M-21 looked up at the stranger that had just appeared on the path. “I thought it would take longer to find you.”

M-21 stopped and frowned. He didn’t know he man, but something told him that the man was bad news. Union bad too, not bath time bad, like with Frank-en-stein. 

“Who are you ‘posed to be?”

The man smiled, and it made M-21 shiver. His smile wasn’t a nice one, like Shinwoo’s or Ikhan’s. It was _mean_ , like Jake’s.

“I’m hurt, M-21,” the man said, and M-21 panicked. 

He knew his code name. He _knew_ his code name.

“Don’t you know the DA-5?”

M-21 froze. The _DA-5_. They were strong. _Stronger_ than Jake or Marie. This was bad-bad. Even badder than bath time bad. And if the sranger was in the DA-5, then…He shouldn’t have left the preschool by himself.

“Yeah,” he said, braver than he felt. “You gotta be Shark. And the man behind is Hammer, right?” The fat man had just appeared out of nowhere too, so he had to be one of them.

Shark smiled even wider. “So you do know us. Then we can talk this through.” He put his hands inside his jacket. “We want you to come with us.”

M-21 wanted to narrow his eyes, but he was too scared. “Why?”

Shark’s smile got a bit smaller, and his eyes got…weird. “You’ll find out if you come with us,” he said. “It won’t take long, if you behave.”

M-21 swallowed, and shook his head. “Nu-uh,” he replied. He wanted to just take back the words when Shark stopped smiling, but it was too late for that.

“You don’t have a choice. Your only option is to go with us.”

“ _Nu-uh_!”

Shark smiled again, but this time, it was bigger and scarier. The air started getting heavy, and suddenly, M-21 couldn’t breathe. Little stones started flying around, and one of them hit him underneath his eye.

That only happened when strong people used their powers. And M-21 had already known that the DA-5 was strong. He just hadn’t known _how_ strong.This was very, very, bad. He wouldn’t be able to fight even one of them, unless Raizel helped him.

Footsteps started approaching them, and M-21 looked back, hoping that it was Raizel. But it was only Regis and Seira. He’d wanted them to come along before, when he was going home, but he _didn’t_ want to see them _now_!

He hoped that they would just walk past, because not even _Regis_ could fight Shark and Hammer. They’d die!

Keeping his head straight, M-21 listened as they walked past. He kept staring at Shark, thankful that he wasn’t paying attention to the two.

They were almost behind him when they stopped, and Regis asked, “What are you doing here?”

M-21 said a bad word that M-24 would have scolded him for, inside his mind.

Shark smiled, and looked at the two Noblesse for the first time. “Oh?” he said, “I thought he was just a kid passing by, but you know each other?” He took his hands out of his pockets slowly. “You aren’t students. Who are you?" 

When neither of them answered, Shark looked at M-21 again.

"M-21, you know, don’t you?”

M-21 looked at the ground, as he thought about what he should say. M-24 always did say that he needed to do that. He thought for a while. Maybe, if he told the truth, Shark and Hammer would back down? He didn’t think so, but it was worth a try.

“They’re Noblesse. And the Union told us that we should stay away from them, remember?”

Shark and Hammer were quiet for a bit. Then Shark laughed. Hard.

“You thought,” he laughed, “that we’d get scared, just because we heard 'Noblesse’? I met one about a year ago, and was excited to face off against them. But I was so disappointed. The great Noblesse wasn’t powerful at all! They even got on their knees and begged us not to kill them. What’s so noble about that?”

M-21 listened to Shark talking, but he felt cold. He already knew that Shark would probably be able to beat Regis and Seira, but hearing him say that he’d killed a Noblesse before made it worse. He was about to try and tell Regis and Seira to leave him, but then, Regis chuckled.

“If they were beaten by you,” the Noblesse said, “then it must have been a fake. Especially if they were beaten by _you_. Your hairstyle is beyond classy. It’s the worst of the worst.”

Regis needed to shut up, M-21 thought. He needed to shut up, and stop making Shark mad, and stop insulting Hammer. If they got mad, who knows what they would do to them? They might just decide that they didn’t want to keep them alive anymore, and M-21 would never get to see M-24, or M-65 and the others, ever again! 

Wait…

An explosion brought M-21 back to the park.

There were blurs jumping around, and a cloud of dust blocking a lot of what was happening. But M-21 could tell that Regis and Shark were fighting. And Regis was winning.

Regis was _winning_. They’d be able to go back home! M-21 was getting excited. If Regis could beat Shark, then he’d be able to beat anybody! He’d never have to-

A bomb fell between Regis and shark, making a hole in the floor. A street light got torn out of the ground, and fell to a side, light still on. Then it flickered. Once, twice, then it was gone. Then Regis and shark landed, further apart than they’d been before.

A man was standing in the smoke, and M-21 just _knew_ that it had to be Kranz.“

Shark,” the man called, “I didn’t authorise you for combat.”

With Kranz there, Shark got a lot more res-pect-ful. He stopped smiling, and actually looked scared. 

“I didn’t have a choice,” he said, voice no really small, but not loud like it had been before. He sounded…scared…of what Kranz would do…

If the DA-5 were scared of their own leader like that, then Regis didn’t stand a chance, M-21 realised. And maybe, just maybe, Frankenstein didn’t either. And he really didn’t stand a chance then.

He jumped when Kranz looked at him. He didn’t want the man’s attention, especially now! “M-21, you’re coming with us,” Kranz said, already turning around.

M-21 didn’t see how he could disagree right now. So he started walking forward. But then Seira stepped in front of him, and he had to stop. He looked up at her, confused.

“Who are you to take him?” Regis called. “You won’t take him without my permission.”

Everything was quiet for a minute. 

M-21 couldn’t see Kranz with Seira standing in front of him. But, if Regis was challenging him, he really didn’t want to see. Strong people tended to get scary when they were angry. He braced himself for another fight.

“You are a Noblesse? M-21, do those two have anything to do with your mission?”

“Mission?”

Regis wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what was going on. M-21 didn’t know what Kranz was talking about either. He wasn’t on a mission. He’d be-trayed the Union and left! But if he said that, then Kranz might…

He  glanced at Seira’s back. He couldn’t get she and Regis in-volved. They wouldn’t be able to help.

“I’ll come,” he shouted, and shoved past Seira to go over to the DA-5 members.

Once he had caught up to them, Kranz put a hand on his shoulder and held on. To anyone who didn’t know what was going on, it would look like he and Kranz were related, and Kranz was just guiding him. But M-21 knew what it was. Kranz was threat-en-ing him, reminding him not to run. Not that he’d be able to get out of the tight grip that Kranz had on his shoulder.

As they walked away, M-21 only looked back once. It was better this way, anyway.


	5. Children Think

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frankenstein set his cup on it saucer firmly, glancing up as Regis stormed into the room. Seira followed, but no M-21 came. 
> 
>  
> 
> _Where was M-21?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay in getting this out! I had a few deaths in the family recently and wasn't in the mood to write.

Frankenstein sighed contentedly as he sat across from his master. He sipped his tea, just enjoying the sounds of the birds chirping outside, and the quiet, calming sounds of breathing. All was so tranquil within that moment, that he almost didn't want to say it. But he did. He voiced his contentment, and enjoyed his master's voiceless response.

 

And then the door opened.

 

Frankenstein sighed. So much for quiet. He was beginning to miss the days when he was the sole roommate of his master.

 

Well, time to go back to being the oblivious human host to a pair of undersocialised nobles and a parent to a young, modified human. All of whom were late, despite them having left M-21's school about an hour and a half ago. Had it been Shinwoo, he would have expected it. From the Nobles however, not so much.

 

He set his cup on it saucer firmly, glancing up as Regis stormed into the room. Seira followed,  _but no M-21 came_. 

 

Frankenstein swallowed nervously, and forced his lips into a smile. Inside, he was screaming.  _Where_  was M-21? Why wasn't he  _with_  Regis and Seira? Was he hiding? Was he hiding from the Nobles? The child was so fearful of them that that could have been a possibility. 

 

Just as likely was the possibility that M-21 was hanging back, trying to gauge Frankenstein's reaction.

 

He sighed in relief. M-21 was most likely biding his time. Otherwise the child would have come running, the minute he was through the front door. 

 

With that in mind, his smile felt more natural as he focused on Regis when he came storming in.

 

"Judging from your footsteps, you had an unpleasant encounter?" Frankenstein asked, chuckling slightly. Gejutel, the old coot, would have a cow if he knew that his grandson was getting flustered from an argument with a child. Or, knowing the old man, he'd get flustered because of the knowledge of the argument too.

 

Either outcome was amusing to the scientist. Especially when he could see every bit of Gejutel in his grandson. It made him want to bully the boy, just a little bit. He was certain that his master wouldn't deny  him that little bit of guilty pleasure.

 

"You must be very upset to be reacting like this," he continued with a chuckle. His master sighed, contentment passing through their bond.

 

"That's right," Seira agreed, ignoring Regis when he spluttered. She placed a hand under her chin, seemingly mulling over her next words. 

 

Amusement thrummed through the bond this time, and Frankenstein wasn't certain whether it belonged to him or his master. Frankly, it didn't bother him that he couldn't separate them.

"He seems...sulky," the girl continued, unfazed by her charge's flustered denials.

 

Chuckling, Frankenstein raised his cup and took a sip of his tea. The boy could deny Seira's words as much as he liked, but it didn't change the fact that the girl was right, and he knew it.

"Why would you think that I'm upset because of him?"

 

He froze. No one had called any names, but there was only one 'him' that Regis could be referring to. And that 'him' was currently absent. It did not sit well with Frankenstein. 

 

"Him?" he asked, hoping that it the young Noble had simply had another argument with the modified child.

 

Regis folded his arms and attempted to school his features into an expression that he must have seen on Gejutel. "Yeah, the brat that was staying here." He closed his eyes and attempted to copy another of what looked like one of his grandfather's facial expressions. "Don't get me wrong; I'm not acting like this because he lied to me."

 

Frankenstein swallowed nervously. Regis could have been talking about anything. About anyone. But, for some reason, his mind immediately thought the worst. His mind immediately thought that Regis had been referring to M-21. He could feel the weight of his master's anxious anticipation, and it was suffocating. Not as suffocating as his own anticipation, however. Sweat made his palms slippery as he hesitantly asked, "What do you mean he lied to you?"

 

"I caught him talking with his colleagues," Regis grumbled, unaware of the turmoil that his words were causing. It made Frankenstein want to hold the boy by his neck and shake him until he spat out all the information inside of his head. "He said that he was only staying here because of his mission."

 

"Mission?" 

 

The boy's last word was echoed, but Frankenstein wasn't sure if it was he or his master saying it. He'd stopped actively paying attention when Regis mentioned M-21's 'colleagues'. M-21's friends from the union were all dead, based on what he had heard from the child, over the past few weeks. So there was no way, despite whatever the child believed, that the two Nobles could have happened upon the boy in the middle of a conversation with them.

 

Unless there was an ouija board involved. And if there was an ouija board involved, Frankenstein would be having words with his little one. He couldn't just go about ignoring etiquette and summoning spirits willy-nilly now, could he? 

He had already mentally had at least five conversations with M-21 when Regis' next words struck him dumb.

 

"Don't ask me where he is though, seeing as he left with his colleagues."

 

Frankenstein felt his eyes narrowing as his temper rose. Across the table from him, Raizel set his teacup down firmly and closed his eyes, concern flooding their bond.

 

 

 

* * *

"We need to hear some information from you," Kranz said, not even looking at M-21.

But M-21 was confused. He didn't know what Kranz could want to hear from him. He was a 'low rank' ex-per-i-ment; he didn't know anything! He swallowed, and looked down at his feet.

"I don't get it," he mumbled, hoping that Kranz didn't get angry with him. "Nobody tells me anything, because I'm a failed ex-per-i-ment. You guys should know more than I do."

For a while, Kranz didn't say anything. Didn't even look up at M-21. But then he sighed and looked up at M-21 as he glared at him.

"One of the labs was shut down," Kranz growled, pushing off of the wall and walking towards M-21. He walked over to him and crouched low, so that their faces were close together. He could smell his breath when he added, "I want to know what you know about it."

M-21 whimpered, and looked away from the DA-5 leader. Why would Kranz ask him about that? Did they think that they were in-volled in it? Well, he wasn't, and he wasn't involled in the Union anymore either! But he had a feeling that if he said that, then Kranz would kill him. So he tried to look brave as he looked at Kranz's shoes. "I was on a mission close to them, so I heard about it." The older modified human huffed as he moved, and M-21 took the opportunity to glance up at the others in the room.

There was a skinny man sitting on a table, tapping at a laptop. His hair looked funny, like somebody had put a bowl on top of his head to cut it. His hands were moving fast, like he really knew what he was doing. And since his hands were moving even faster than Ik-han's hands did, M-21 ass-umed that he did. Which pro-bab-ly meant that he was Tao.

M-21 always thought that the DA-5's hack-er would be taller.

A man with long hair shifted but, before M-21 could look at him any more, Kranz moved again.

"We read the report. What we want to know is what Crombel was doing here." He was glaring again, and M-21 was getting tired of it.

"How should know?" he asked, rudely. He folded his arms and returned the glare. "Why don't you go ask him?" 

Almost as soon as he said it, M-21 wanted to take it back. Because Kranz's face got all dark and scary.  Trembling, he watched with wide eyes as the older man stood up and walked away.

"Shark," he called, snapping his fingers as he walked over to the wall. He stood next to the tall man and waited.

Before M-21 could wonder why Kranz wanted Shark, his head  hit a wall really  hard. Everything went black for a little bit. When he opened his eyes again, Shark was right there in front his face, grinning. Or, maybe his face was just stuck like that. M-24 used to say that if he made too many faces, his face would freeze, and he'd have to keep a funny face forever. Maybe that had happened to Shark, and now his face was stuck like that.

Served him right, if that was what had happened.

Sitting up, M-21 glared at Shark as he wiped his face. 

"This is why I don't like children," Kranz mumbled, making M-21 look at him.  His hands were inside his pockets now, and he didn't even look upset that Shark had hit him. "They ask too many stupid questions. And since I don't have the time to answer all of  _your_  stupid questions, only  _my_  questions will be answered. Got it?"

M-21 kept glaring. "You guys are mean." He didn't get to say the rest of what he was thinking. Before he could see it, Shark had kicked him into the other wall. 

"Kids these days don't know who they're dealing with..." Shark snickered, grinning like a crazy person. He'd better still be smiling when M-21 got him back.

"What did Crombel do here?"

"How am I s'pposed to know that?" M-21 grumbled, sitting up. Then he was back on the ground again, coughing up blood.

"That is highly likely," Kranz was saying when he sat up again. "But we know that the doctor sent you on a personal mission. It's all in the top secret report that he filed. What I want to know is what Doctor Crombel wanted you to do for him." He stopped talking and looked at M-21. "I understand that this is a lot for someone of your stature to take in, so we'll give you some time to think about it." Then he turned and walked out the door.

Shark turned to follow him too, but stopped and looked back at him. "You can resist," he giggled, then followed Kranz out of the room.

Frankenstein would have gotten mad, if he'd seen it, but Frankenstein wasn't here. So M-21 spat in his direction as he left. Frowning, he wiped the blood from his lips and sat up.

Why would Doctor Crombel lie for him? And why was the DA-5 in-vest-ti-gating him?

M-21 was confused. He looked down as he made two fists and put them on either side of his head. Doctor Crombel wouldn't lie to protect him. So he had to be planning something. And 24 always said that a planning scientist was bad.

Something touched his head, and he jumped.

The long haired man was stooping in front of him, holding a water bottle. When he noticed that M-21 was looking at him, he gave him a small smile.

"You should drink," he said, putting the bottle down. Then he turned and walked back to his wall.

M-21 looked down at the bottle. What was that about now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like my writing style was fluctuating a lot in this chapter, honestly.


	6. Children Get into Sticky Situations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takeo was unsure how he felt about this most recent development. 
> 
> It left a sour taste in his mouth, one that he hadn't tasted in a long, long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Copying dialogue is hard. :P

Takeo was unsure how he felt about this most recent development. 

On the one hand, he was secretly enjoying watching the child get the better of Shark, embarrassing him several times. On the other, he was dreading the day that the mission would be over. Because there was no way that Shark, let alone Kranz, would let the boy live, for his little offenses. And now that there was a strange blonde male taking interest in the boy?

Kranz would make sure that the child's death was painful.

He swallowed hard, and tried to ignore Tao's curious gaze as they trudged down the hallway.

The other man had been strangely distracted for a while, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. He kept his eyes trained on the wall ahead, choosing to focus on his teammate's odd behaviour, rather than the  _child_  that they were keeping prisoner. The child who, from what he'd observed over the past few days, was willing to die for the information that he wanted. Willing to die for information that wasn't even that difficult to get.

It left a sour taste in his mouth, one that he hadn't tasted in a long, long time.

He glanced down at the boy, and quickly returned his gaze to the wall.

"Why are those two calling us? Don't they know that we've still got lots of work to do?"

Takeo agreed with Tao's sentiments, silently.

"Kranz, did Shark and Hammer tell you anything?"

Kranz didn't answer, but Tao didn't really seem to be expecting one.

The four of them kept walking, until they got to the room. Takeo was prepared to tune out anything that Shark was going to say, but the man's behaviour caught him off guard.

"Oh colleagues, welcome!" Shark, grinned, giving a little twirl. "Come in, come in! Don't wait around and come in!"

Somehow, Takeo felt that the over the top enthusiasm was done solely to annoy them, and to belittle M-21. If it wasn't, then it meant that Shark had probably lost his mind, and would need to be put down.

Such a shame, really.

His fingers crept towards his guns slowly, ready for Krans to say the word. Just one word, and Shark would be nothing more than a faint memory of a headache. He cracked the second knuckle on his index finger, and scanned the room with his eyes. His hands fell away from his guns in that minute.

There were children on the ground behind Shark.

Familiar children.

He ground his teeth, and felt one of them crack when Shark announced that he'd had contact with the children. He ignored the shocked look that M-21 sent his way, opting to growl his next words rather than attempt to analyze the boy's expression. "What does my meeting them have to do with why they're here?"

Shark's sickening grin got even wider. It made Takeo want to wipe it off his face, in an way possible.

"I told you, They were with the Noblesse. I needed them to get the Noblesse."

Takeo felt his eyes narrowing.

"And this way,I don't have to double back to take care of them later," Shark chuckled, twirling one of his knives. He glanced over and grinned. "Oh that's right, you didn't know that I always do this."

For the second time that night, Takeo felt every muscle in his body going slack. He could hear Shark talking, but all he could think of was...his sister.

His sister's face, superimposing the faces of all those people. Then, his sister's face, all broken and bloody.

He'd saved them because of his sister. He'd saved them, and Shark had killed them. Shark had  _killed_ them. Every  _single_  one of them.

Even the young ones.

Takeo exploded.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

M-21 stared at Takeo as he stomped out of the room.

He didn't really understand exactly what had happened between Takeo and Shark and Takeo's sister. But, one thing that he was certain of, Krans had known, and Krans hadn't cared. 

He glanced at Shark again, nervously this time. 

Shark had his arm tossed around Tao's shoulder and was a-pol-o-gi-sing. He didn't sound very sorry though. He sounded happy.

M-21 shivered, and looked at Krans' legs. But without anything to dis-tract him, he was forced to think.

Once, M-64 had told him that it wasn't good to think too much. Because then it made you think about things that you didn't want to think about.

Like how Regis got beaten.

His eyes started to burn.

Regis was to be a Noblesse, and Noblesse were supposed to be super strong. And if even Regis lost...

M-21 sniffled and wiped his nose quickly.

He wouldn't be able to escape then. He'd already known that, but he'd still hoped.

Maybe Frankenstein and Raizel would think that he'd gone on a mission. If they thought that, then they wouldn't be sad when they never saw him again.

Maybe.

He smiled a little, even though that thought made him feel sad.

"Hey, M-21."

He glanced up at Shark.

"What's your relationship with this brat?" Shark asked, pushing Regis with the top of his shoe.

M-21 snorted at that. "I told you, I'm not telling you anything unless you tell me what I wanna know first," he teased, sticking out his tongue for 'good mea-sure'. But he quickly pulled it back in, remembering how Shark had threatened to cut it off already.

Yeah Krans had told Shark that he couldn't hit M-21 anymore, but he didn't trust the man to keep his promise.

Shark grinned even wider. "That's true," he said in a sticky-sweet voice, just like the ones that the Union scientists used to use whenever they were calling him over, just so that they could hurt him. 

It was the kind of voice that made him want to throw up whenever he heard it. And he nearly did, when Shark bounced over and ruffled his hair, just like how Dr. Crombel would before he-

M-21 growled weakly as he stepped away, making a half-heart-ed swipe at the older Union agent. He didn't ex-pect it to hit him, but he was still mad when Shark stepped away from it.

Shark giggled again, smoothing back his hair as he turned his back. "Getting shy now, aren't we, M-21?" He moved a bit closer to Shinwoo and the others. 

His chest got tight when Shinwoo and Ik-han groaned. If they woke up and saw him... He swallowed hard.

Shark glanced at them, and then turned a mean smile on M-21. "Oh," he said, his voice dripping with something bad. It felt rotten, like some of the dead bodies that he and M-24 had had to clean up sometimes. "The kids are waking up. I guess we can ask them what your connection is then. Right, M-21?"


End file.
